Today, October 21, is the day the Yuma High School cross country athletes put their state dreams on the line.
The girls and boys teams are in the Class 2A Region 1 Meet at Lyons High School. Several other 3A and 4A regionals also are being held there today, October 21.
“The top five are looking really good (in both boys and girls),” coach Robert Zahller said, “and we’re fifth (in both).”
The top five teams and the top 15 individuals qualify for next week’s state meet in Colorado Springs.
Last year, YHS qualified its girls team for state, and the boys’ Javier Duran qualified individually. The Indians are looking for two team qualifiers in 2021.
“The numbers aren’t against us,” Zahller said. “I love coaching the kids on our team and hope they can be as competitive as possible.”
He noted each regional at Lyons feature plenty of great distance runners.
“It will be an exciting 20 minutes for each race,” Zahller said. “I think it’s a cool end to the season.”
Yuma’s runners closed out the season last Thursday at the Strasburg Invitational held in Byers. Nice conditions quickly turned wet and cold, resulting in having to run through muddy conditions.
Both Yuma teams still finished second in the final team standings.
Yuma’s boys were led by Angel Escobar placing fourth with a time of 20 minutes, 0.5 seconds, while Javier Duran was sixth in 20:16, Mely Gonzalez 12th in 21:04.6, Jaxson Lungwitz 13th in 21:05.7, Jaime Montanez 24th in 24:56.6, and Angel Ibarra 28th in 29:37.
Ashley Ibanez led the girls team, placing fifth in 23:30.9, while Samantha Wells was 11th in 25:53.9, Alyssa Roberts 18th in 28:48, Myka McDonald 19th in 28:48.9, Wendy Garcia 21st in 32:03.9, and Natalie Jurado 23rd in 32:09.9.
